Your Devotion May Not Be Bad But It May Be Harmful

My Utmost For His Highest

 

…someone said to Him, "Lord, I will follow You wherever You go." —Luke 9:57

 

“Our Lord’s attitude toward this man was one of severe discouragement, “for He knew what was in man” (John 2:25). […]  If the Spirit of God brings to your mind a word of the Lord that hurts you, you can be sure that there is something in you that He wants to hurt to the point of its death. Luke 9:58. These words destroy the argument of serving Jesus Christ because it is a pleasant thing to do. And the strictness of the rejection that He demands of me allows for nothing to remain in my life but my Lord, myself, and a sense of desperate hope. He says that I must let everyone else come or go, and that I must be guided solely by my relationship to Him. And He says, “…the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.” […]  We put our sense of loyalty to our relatives ahead of our loyalty to Jesus Christ, forcing Him to take last place. When your loyalties conflict, always obey Jesus Christ whatever the cost.” CHAMBERS

 

We listen to the words people say, but God sees the heart.  Jesus could see the hearts of the three men He responded to.  (Luke 9:57-62) The first needed assurance that he would have some place to come back to.  The second had greater commitment to the affairs of this world.  The third had greater affection for his family.  None of those things are inherently bad. But, if they keep you from Jesus, then they are eternally harmful. So many people want to cling to the natural in their yearning for the supernatural.  Like Lot’s wife. (Luke 17:30-33; Genesis 19:26) “It will be just like this on the day the Son of Man is revealed. On that day no one who is on the housetop, with possessions inside, should go down to get them. Likewise, no one in the field should go back for anything. Remember Lot’s wife! Whoever tries to keep their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life will preserve it.” 

 

I have seen so many Christians turn to look back.  Perhaps some did not have true faith, like the parable of the seed (Matthew 13), I don’t know. But is saddens me to know what they are missing.  Probably the greatest sadness is when it is someone in your family.  They act one way when you are around and quite another when you are not.  That behavior shouts of their spiritual ignorance.  It is not me that they should be concerned with, but God who judges the heart and who is always present.  People, Christian or not, might hide their sinful ways from you or one another, but they cannot be hidden from God. The very thing they need they turn away from to embrace an imitation.  It is interesting the Jesus did not chase after them, but let them go their own way.  We can’t see the heart of man, so we continue to hope that one day, they will turn their hearts toward God.   ELGIN